Social Worker Attitudes Towards Recovery Among People With Serious Mental Illness
Author:
Debra Kram-Fernandez
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Growing numbers of researchers are studying mental health practitioners' adoption of the Recovery Perspective and its operational model, Psychiatric Rehabilitation. However, they have not studied social workers, even though they provide the majority of services to seriously mentally ill consumers (SMI). This study examined social worker's practices, goals, and adoption of the Recovery Perspective and Psychiatric Rehabilitation. From a random sample of 3,000 National Association of Social Work (NASW) New York State members, 441 completed paper and pencil surveys that included two measures, the Recovery Knowledge Inventory (Bedregal, Davidson & O'Connell, 2006) and the Psychiatric Rehabilitation: Beliefs, Goals and Practices Scale, (Casper & Oursler, 2003). The majority of subjects (67%) worked with SMIs for over ten years. Only 21% reported employment in restrictive settings including in-patient, day hospital, or continuing day treatment; over 100% reported primary or secondary employment in less restrictive settings including clinics, private practice, or other. Sixty-one percent had a close friend or family member with SMI. Pluralities reported subscribing to a psychodynamic (42%) or cognitive-behavioral (47%) theoretical frame of reference.
Multidisciplinary Clinical Consultation in Child Protection: Contextual Influences and Stakeholder Perceptions of Best Practices
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Presented in this study are "best practices" drawn from a multi-method examination of an innovative multidisciplinary clinical consultation program in a large, governmental child protection agency.
Social workers facing stress and the coping strategies they use: A secondary analysis
Year of Dissertation:
2011
In the immense literature on stress in healthcare, social workers have been poorly represented. This dissertation examines the relationship between stress, perception of stress at work (PSW), and coping strategies through the analysis of a secondary data gathered from a national sample of social workers participating in the NASW 2007 national survey. Several coping strategies (i.e., complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) or meditation/yoga, exercise, therapy/medication and avoidance) are examined as potential moderators of the relationship between stress and PSW. Results indicate that over 50% of social workers in this study report the experience of stress on the job and that the stress is significantly related to perceived organizational stressors and safety concerns at work. The literature in mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) research supports engagement in meditation and yoga as a means to reduce levels of overall stress. However, this was not supported by the current study. Bi-variate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between these variables and their association to stress. At the multivariate level, hierachical binary logistic regression indicated that CAM did not moderate the relationship between stress and PSW at a statistically significant level. However, an analysis of main effects did reveal that exercise held a negative association to stress while considering PSW. However, when safety concern was controlled for in the model, exercise no longer provided a buffering effect to stress in the presence of PSW. This study supports the notion that stress related to work conditions does indeed exist for practicing social workers and that the coping strategies they use are not providing enough of a relief from this stress. Further research related to organizational interventions and individual strategies to cope with stressors needs to be conducted in order to insure a healthier workforce.
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE: AN EVALUATION OF A PEDAGOGICAL MODEL FOR TEACHING CULTURAL COMPETENCE WITHIN A FRAMEWORK OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMS
Author:
Mayra Lopez-Humphreys
Year of Dissertation:
2011
A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent comparison group design with pre, post and follow-up survey data was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an intergroup dialogue intervention on bachelor of social work (BSW) students' levels of cultural competence and social justice behaviors. The sample of convenience consisted of 115 who identified as social-work majors and participated in diversity courses, 76 were intergroup dialogue participants (Site IGD) and 39 were not (Site non-IGD). Five specific questions were explored in the study.
Mothers' perceptions of their bonding process with their first children
Year of Dissertation:
2010
The child's attachment to the parent has been thoroughly studied over the past six decades with rich findings that have guided the child development field. However, the mother's bond to her child has received scant attention, even from attachment researchers (George & Solomon, 1999). When parents have been studied, it has been primarily to determine how they facilitate their children's attachment to them.
SIBLING ABUSE: UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENTAL CONSEQUENCES THROUGH OBJECT RELATIONS, FAMILY SYSTEMS, AND RESILIENCY THEORIES
Year of Dissertation:
2011
This phenomenological qualitative study explored childhood and adolescent sibling abuse among adult survivors. The original intent was to explore informant's perceptions of the effects of sibling abuse on their adult relationships. However, the study revealed significant findings beyond adult informant's relatedness. Although some claim sibling abuse occurs more frequently than parent-child or spousal abuse, data tracking its incidence is unavailable. Therefore, it remains overlooked as normative sibling rivalry. Based on informants' descriptions of their abuse, I distinguished sibling abuse as a distinct phenomenon with devastating childhood consequences and repercussions in self-concept and relatedness which extend into adulthood. In addition, this study provides rich description of the phenomenon of sibling abuse. Because no theoretically driven research about sibling relationships and object relations, family systems, and emerging theories of risk and resilience exist, this study incorporated sibling abuse into a developmental understanding of personality using these theoretical lenses.
ReCONNECTING TO RESILIENCE: A HISTORICAL STUDY OF SLAVE NARRATIVES WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH FROM HIGH RISK ENVIRONMENTS
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Advisor:
Stephen Burghardt
"ReConnecting to Historical Resilience"
Strengths and Weaknesses of the US-Based Refugee Resettlement Program: As Survey of International Rescue Committee Employee Perceptions
Year of Dissertation:
2012
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among nine agencies in the United States that resettles refugees. There are two core national resettlement programs: the State Department's Reception and Placement (R&P and the Health and Human Services' (HHS) Matching Grant (MG). These two programs largely have been designed to accomplish refugee self-sufficiency by way of early employment programming and services. Resettlement agencies, such as the IRC, are now beginning to initiate other program areas aside from early employment such as health and wellness, children and youth, and other concepts of financial literacy and economic empowerment.
A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF AGENDA FOR CHILDREN TOMORROW'S ROLE AND PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES IN TWO COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, BROWNSVILLE-EAST NEW YORK AND BUSHWICK
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Recent studies of community-based organizations suggest the need for more qualitative/ descriptive accounts of organizations such as Agenda for Children Tomorrow (ACT). ACT is intended to function as an effective social, political, and economic capital building agent, on multiple levels, for low-income children and families throughout New York City.
A Study of Predictors of College Completion Among SEEK Immigrant Students
Year of Dissertation:
2010
This study examined the strength of the relationship between eight situational and demographic variables and college completion among immigrant students in SEEK, an educational opportunity program. The eight variables studied as possible predictors of college completion included household composition, length of residency, English as a primary language, high school grade point average, age, gender, ethnicity, and year of entry. In addition, the study compared graduation rate of SEEK immigrant students admitted earlier in the program (1995-2000) versus those who entered later (2001-2003) when the admission criteria were changed. The study took place at the City College of New York (CCNY), a four-year, urban, public institution which is a branch of The City University of New York (CUNY). The study focused on the overarching question of are selected factors predictors of college completion among SEEK immigrant students?